--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That no man can truly imagine being happy…" description: "\"“That no man can truly imagine being happy and that's why happiness isn't for sale here.”\" — Robin Hobb" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/robin-hobb-489_happiness_that-no-man-can-truly-imagine-being-happ_2790512.jpg" --- # That no man can truly imagine being happy and that's why… ![“That no man can truly imagine being happy and that's why happiness isn't for sale here.” quote by Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/robin-hobb-489_happiness_that-no-man-can-truly-imagine-being-happ_2790512.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/robin-hobb-489_happiness_that-no-man-can-truly-imagine-being-happ_2790512.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/robin-hobb-489_happiness_that-no-man-can-truly-imagine-being-happ_2790512.jpg) > ““That no man can truly imagine being happy and that's why happiness isn't for sale here.”” [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True happiness is unimaginable, thus it isn’t commercially available. **In simple terms:** Happiness is beyond ordinary comprehension and market. Key Takeaway Seek meaning beyond material acquisition. Themes philosophy psychology literature Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal development - literary analysis - mindfulness workshops - spiritual retreats Key Concepts existential fulfillment value of intangible Questions to Reflect On - What does “unimaginable” happiness look like? - Can happiness be cultivated without commerce? A Different Perspective May seem pessimistic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ## Related quotes > [I cannot truly imagine a truly great person who hasn't suffered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/i-cannot-truly-imagine-a-truly-great-person-who-hasn-t-suffered/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [We can only know what we can truly imagine. Finally what we see comes from ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/we-can-only-know-what-we-can-truly-imagine-finally-what-we-see-comes/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [A library book, I imagine, is a happy book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/a-library-book-i-imagine-is-a-happy-book/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [I cannot imagine being happy anywhere else in the world but in Cape Town - South Africa in general, but Cape Town in particular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoffel-wiese/i-cannot-imagine-being-happy-anywhere-else-in-the-world-but-in-cape/) [Christoffel Wiese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoffel-wiese/) > [“I can't imagine what a happy home is like: parents cuddling and laughing, music playing, books on the shelves, discussions round the table? We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viv-albertine/i-can-t-imagine-what-a-happy-home-is-like-parents-cuddling-and/) [Viv Albertine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viv-albertine/) > [“I can only imagine how happy life would be if we could stay so grounded in our faith that we would never waver in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracie-miles/i-can-only-imagine-how-happy-life-would-be-if-we-could-stay-so/) [Tracie Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracie-miles/) > [“So here, patient listener: your soothing epilogue. Imagine him happy. Imagine him spinning in circles... Imagine his heaven, where he can float through characters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-makkai/so-here-patient-listener-your-soothing-epilogue-imagine-him-happy/) [Rebecca Makkai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-makkai/) > [Imagine how happy, how holy, life would be if we ever really learn to see beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/imagine-how-happy-how-holy-life-would-be-if-we-ever-really-learn-to/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [Happiness isn't something this island yields easily; the ground is too rocky and the sun too sparse for it to flourish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/happiness-isn-t-something-this-island-yields-easily-the-ground-is-too/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [“Happiness isn't something that you plan for. It comes knocking unexpectedly, just like opportunity. And it's up to you to answer the door and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/autumn-doughton/happiness-isn-t-something-that-you-plan-for-it-comes-knocking/) [Autumn Doughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/autumn-doughton/) > [There is no happiness that isn't earned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/there-is-no-happiness-that-isn-t-earned/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [Happiness isn't measured by what you have but what you feel, which doesn't need to depend on what you have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anmol-andore/happiness-isn-t-measured-by-what-you-have-but-what-you-feel-which/) [Anmol Andore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anmol-andore/) > [“Perhaps the reason we so often experience happiness only in hindsight, and that chasing it is such a fool’s errand, is that happiness isn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-kreider/perhaps-the-reason-we-so-often-experience-happiness-only-in-hindsight/) [Tim Kreider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-kreider/) > [To be happy you have to know what you really want. After all, you can never have enough of what you didn't want in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-holden/to-be-happy-you-have-to-know-what-you-really-want-after-all-you-can/) [Robert Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-holden/) > [“I’ve come to think that flourishing consists of putting yourself in situations in which you lose self-consciousness and become fused with other people, experiences,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/i-ve-come-to-think-that-flourishing-consists-of-putting-yourself-in/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) ## More by Robin Hobb > [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“But that is not true for all folk. Some folk are meant to argue with fate. And win.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/but-that-is-not-true-for-all-folk-some-folk-are-meant-to-argue-with/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“I tried to leave you alone, Fitz. To find what peace you could, even if it excluded me from your life.” Ten years ago,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/i-tried-to-leave-you-alone-fitz-to-find-what-peace-you-could-even-if/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“Do you think you're taking Etta out of here?" "Yes," Kennit called over his shoulder up the sairs. "What about all these dead men?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/do-you-think-you-re-taking-etta-out-of-here-yes-kennit-called-over/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“A way out is a way in. Then,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/a-way-out-is-a-way-in-then/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“Die in your dreams, wake up insane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/die-in-your-dreams-wake-up-insane/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“I felt a familiar squeezing in what I thought must be my heart. I had heard of being "heartbroken" or "heavy-hearted" but I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/i-felt-a-familiar-squeezing-in-what-i-thought-must-be-my-heart-i-had/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“They spoke of a dream of a child who bore the heart of a wolf.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/they-spoke-of-a-dream-of-a-child-who-bore-the-heart-of-a-wolf/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“We all perish in our last attempt to live.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/we-all-perish-in-our-last-attempt-to-live/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“There is always power in holding a secret.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/there-is-always-power-in-holding-a-secret/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“... finally realizing that life was to be lived, rather than hoarded against an unseen tomorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/finally-realizing-that-life-was-to-be-lived-rather-than-hoarded/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“Why, I suddenly wondered, had I wasted all those hours I could have spent with her? Why hadn’t I gone with them, to listen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/why-i-suddenly-wondered-had-i-wasted-all-those-hours-i-could-have/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“I think I made a better boy than I do a man, I admitted ruefully to the wolf. Why not wait until you've been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/i-think-i-made-a-better-boy-than-i-do-a-man-i-admitted-ruefully-to/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“So, with all the wide world to choose from, you didn't choose at all. You simply stopped wandering one day”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/so-with-all-the-wide-world-to-choose-from-you-didn-t-choose-at-all/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“I don't think I can stand it much longer,” he warned her. “Something will have to give way. And I fear it will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/i-don-t-think-i-can-stand-it-much-longer-he-warned-her-something-will/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) [Explore all 500 Robin Hobb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) ## More Happiness quotes > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/) [Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/) > [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/) [MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/) [Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I've got nothing to do today but smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-nothing-to-do-today-but-smile/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/positive-thinking-evokes-more-energy-more-initiative-more-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) Pancho Barnes [Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“That no man can truly imagine being happy and that's why happiness isn't for sale here.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robin Hobb" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/that-no-man-can-truly-imagine-being-happy-and-that-s-why-happiness/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/that-no-man-can-truly-imagine-being-happy-and-that-s-why-happiness/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/robin-hobb-489_happiness_that-no-man-can-truly-imagine-being-happ_2790512.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/robin-hobb-489_happiness_that-no-man-can-truly-imagine-being-happ_2790512.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e3/robin-hobb-489_happiness_that-no-man-can-truly-imagine-being-happ_2790512.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That no man can truly imagine being happy and that's why happiness isn't for sale here.” — Robin Hobb", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robin Hobb", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“That no man can truly imagine...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/that-no-man-can-truly-imagine-being-happy-and-that-s-why-happiness/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/that-no-man-can-truly-imagine-being-happy-and-that-s-why-happiness/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```